We have had a wonderful two days and I am feeling much stronger now that we have left the ill people behind us. I am sitting in a bar in the evening and the Spanish foot ball game is blaring above me with smoke from the patrons coloring the air. And to boot it is dark on the keyboard so forgive the spelling mistakes.
I have loved the past two days, particularly because I have discovered Spanish ibuprofen which is 3 times stronger than ours and cheap as dirt. It has made quite a difference to my feet if I take one in the morning before we leave.
We have walked in the moonlight each morning and yesterday for about 2 hours on a straignt road lit by the full moon. You forget the sound of silence in normal life and this was a specatular experience of just walking. I was trying to remember the word to the Psalm 23 which I memorized in Sunday School years ago. Do not ask me why this came to mind then, however for the past two days, I have been singing Crimond and the words to the psalm as I remember them and it is very calming and meditative.
We are in Rabinal del Camino this evening and in the mountains. We had a wonderful walk yesterday and a great evening in Astorga yesterday. Now we walked steadily up hill all day to get here and are once again in a room for 4 which is so great,
We are in the mountains and I love the walking up the hills, who would have thought eh, I am feeling fine, fit and healthty and very happy.
We realized that we are now 10 days from Santiago and so can actually see the end of the journey. We have walked 540 kms so less than 240 to go and it is possible to actually see the end to this trip now.
We are in the most beautiful part of the Camino and will pass by the large iron cross where we will leave all of our trinkets and stones from Canada tomorrow. We will be up early as there are more people travelling now and we really like the solutide in the early morning and the darkness.
I will write more tomorrow but just have to conclude with this as the smoke and the noise are a bit much.
This evening we attended a prayer service in the little church here and the whole thing was sung as Gregorian chants which was beautiful. I am touched by the great evidence of people´s commitment to something greater than themselves now and really ejoy the deep conversations we are begining to have.
Love from the Camino
Maggee
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
And so it goes
It has been a hard few days. I don´t know if this is because of the terrain that I have had to deal with and my sore feet, the fact that we have convered close to 500 kms and have not really had a break day in 21 days now or just the fact that the constant walking has brought me to a place of wondering what I am doing here anyway! So many people are sick or injured or just cannot walk with the problems with feet or tendons. It is not surprising to see people with quite difficult walking gaits as a result of their infected blisters or strains and sprains. The GI flu is also rampant in the group and last night there were at least 5 people quite ill in the dormitory. This has caused me to think carefully about potential causes and I have concluded that we are exhausted probably and thus more susceptible to viruses. As well, we live together in very close quarters and so the germs spread easily. The hygiene factor on the camino is not normal either. Many bathrooms do not have soap so the hand washing is not as good as it should be and the communal kitchens have dishes that may not be washed with more than a rinse under the tap. So there are lessons in all of this that we have taken on as new practices. We buy water and do not drink from the taps. We wash our hands frequently and carry hand disinfectant and are careful not to share things that could get contaminated. Can you believe that with such generosity, I witnessed a woman helping another one out with her bad blister by using her own needle. This is the needle and thread technique which is common to drain the fluid in the blister. People who are not in health care would not realize the seriousness of such a practice and so infection as well as other things like HIV and hepatitis can be spread.
Not to belabour this issue, but we found a young couple being disinfected for bed bugs yesterday when we arrived at the monastery where we wanted to stay. they had picked them up in the same albeque that we had stayed in a few days prior, however they were in a different room from ours there, thanks goodness. The good sisters were helping them to spray and kill off the offending bugs and then wash everything for them before providing them with special accomodation. they were from Australia and had been travelling for 6 months with no previous problem. Such are the hazards of communal travel. However the attitude that we all have is just to deal with it.
We spent yeterday in Leon which is simply a wonderful old city. Better than Burgos in my opnion, as the ancient part of the city is much larger and more full of character. the monastery was great and clean and the people so kind to us. Last night we went to a prayer service before bed time and were really touched by the simplicity and the beauty of listening to the 15 nuns in traditional garb, singing gregorian chants through the short service. Leaves you feeling the awe of this journey as so many people are following in the footsteps of the ancients as we trek along each day.
This morning as with a few other mornings, I awoke to the view of 16 sleeping bodies - all of them curled up in their sleeping bags in the top bunks, which I prefer even though it is a bit of a struggle to get in and out as there is often no ladder. Below were the dark forms of 16 more forms on the lower bunks. Not having had a summer camp experience in my youth, this continues to be a really interesting experience, sharing such close quarters with so many people. Since the nuns had separated the men and the women into different dormitories we had the pleasure of limited snoring which can be a problem with a lot of men in the room.
Well this morning´s walk was 2 hours getting out of Leon and then into the beauty and peace of the country side. I was thrilled to see hills once again - imagine!! But they really change the dynamic of the foot falls and are such a great thing to be able to enjoy powering up and down as my fitness level is so good at the moment. As I walked I realzed that I have been looking down for 4 days, trying to find the best place to put my foot on each step over the rough roads and have been missing a lot of the environment. I also realized that I have been carrying worry with me everywhere and have been questioning in my normal way whether I am doing this journey right!! Am I getting what I am supposed to, Am I thinking properly and meditating well, Am I just walking to get to the next bed (yes definitely sometimes I sure am!) And so I began to then contemplate what it is that I really am storing up from my experiences along this way.
Some of it is very trivial and our poet has provided a wonderful saying that goes something like - it is the insignificant in each day that provides meaning for the vagabond - and so with my list of the insignificant, I realized just how much richness there is in each day. So many wonderful interactions with so many wonderful people as well as the little things that largely go unnoticed in normal life. A few days ago I just stopped for awhile and watched an old man bent over, with his dog and flock of sheep slowly making his way across the fields as the sheep grazed on the grasses growing out of the red earth.
As well, I also know that I have arrived at some good conclusions about the direction of my life and am interested in the things that I have decided to focus on in the future around purpose, intention and adventure. I feel so strongly confident about being on my own to follow my dreams as well and know that what I need and desire will be provided for me as I am ready for it. There is an abundant energy that is available to make things happen and as well, there are so many interesting people with fascinating lives and interests. Some of my travel companions have been nothing but inspirational in sharing what they do and how they create interests and circles of friends. We conclued that it is about imagination, meaningful life that is, and the side of the brain that we do not give ourselves permission to dwell in because it does not appear to the visual world as productive and much of a contribution. And here is another realization in that I do not need to make everything I do a contribution to others of to the broader world as I have so routinely made my actions focused on in the past few decades.
Well, as this is day 21 and we have travelled close to 500 kms, perhaps the richness of the travelling will just be starting to show up now that we are entering the most beautiful part of the Camino. As I track my way along each day now, I promise myself to look up and not down - a good metaphor for my life as well- and to write down my reflections as they come which is often in the morning and not at night when I often wait to write.
Well the vino tinto is waiting for us and I must scoot off (well as fast as one can scoot with stiff feet!!).
More later..................Maggee
Not to belabour this issue, but we found a young couple being disinfected for bed bugs yesterday when we arrived at the monastery where we wanted to stay. they had picked them up in the same albeque that we had stayed in a few days prior, however they were in a different room from ours there, thanks goodness. The good sisters were helping them to spray and kill off the offending bugs and then wash everything for them before providing them with special accomodation. they were from Australia and had been travelling for 6 months with no previous problem. Such are the hazards of communal travel. However the attitude that we all have is just to deal with it.
We spent yeterday in Leon which is simply a wonderful old city. Better than Burgos in my opnion, as the ancient part of the city is much larger and more full of character. the monastery was great and clean and the people so kind to us. Last night we went to a prayer service before bed time and were really touched by the simplicity and the beauty of listening to the 15 nuns in traditional garb, singing gregorian chants through the short service. Leaves you feeling the awe of this journey as so many people are following in the footsteps of the ancients as we trek along each day.
This morning as with a few other mornings, I awoke to the view of 16 sleeping bodies - all of them curled up in their sleeping bags in the top bunks, which I prefer even though it is a bit of a struggle to get in and out as there is often no ladder. Below were the dark forms of 16 more forms on the lower bunks. Not having had a summer camp experience in my youth, this continues to be a really interesting experience, sharing such close quarters with so many people. Since the nuns had separated the men and the women into different dormitories we had the pleasure of limited snoring which can be a problem with a lot of men in the room.
Well this morning´s walk was 2 hours getting out of Leon and then into the beauty and peace of the country side. I was thrilled to see hills once again - imagine!! But they really change the dynamic of the foot falls and are such a great thing to be able to enjoy powering up and down as my fitness level is so good at the moment. As I walked I realzed that I have been looking down for 4 days, trying to find the best place to put my foot on each step over the rough roads and have been missing a lot of the environment. I also realized that I have been carrying worry with me everywhere and have been questioning in my normal way whether I am doing this journey right!! Am I getting what I am supposed to, Am I thinking properly and meditating well, Am I just walking to get to the next bed (yes definitely sometimes I sure am!) And so I began to then contemplate what it is that I really am storing up from my experiences along this way.
Some of it is very trivial and our poet has provided a wonderful saying that goes something like - it is the insignificant in each day that provides meaning for the vagabond - and so with my list of the insignificant, I realized just how much richness there is in each day. So many wonderful interactions with so many wonderful people as well as the little things that largely go unnoticed in normal life. A few days ago I just stopped for awhile and watched an old man bent over, with his dog and flock of sheep slowly making his way across the fields as the sheep grazed on the grasses growing out of the red earth.
As well, I also know that I have arrived at some good conclusions about the direction of my life and am interested in the things that I have decided to focus on in the future around purpose, intention and adventure. I feel so strongly confident about being on my own to follow my dreams as well and know that what I need and desire will be provided for me as I am ready for it. There is an abundant energy that is available to make things happen and as well, there are so many interesting people with fascinating lives and interests. Some of my travel companions have been nothing but inspirational in sharing what they do and how they create interests and circles of friends. We conclued that it is about imagination, meaningful life that is, and the side of the brain that we do not give ourselves permission to dwell in because it does not appear to the visual world as productive and much of a contribution. And here is another realization in that I do not need to make everything I do a contribution to others of to the broader world as I have so routinely made my actions focused on in the past few decades.
Well, as this is day 21 and we have travelled close to 500 kms, perhaps the richness of the travelling will just be starting to show up now that we are entering the most beautiful part of the Camino. As I track my way along each day now, I promise myself to look up and not down - a good metaphor for my life as well- and to write down my reflections as they come which is often in the morning and not at night when I often wait to write.
Well the vino tinto is waiting for us and I must scoot off (well as fast as one can scoot with stiff feet!!).
More later..................Maggee
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Walking in the Moonlight
We leave early in the morning and for the past few mornings have been walking in the light of the full moon for an hour or more. This is a wonderful time for solitude and reflection, It is also very cold and I am wearing my fleece hat and gloves and once even my rain jacket which was a bit big and bulky but did cut the wind and make a difference. It is good to start early as it means that you finish the day a bit earlier as well. We like to get to the next place in the early afternoon. It is a bit more crowded we notice since leaving Burgos and so there are many people looking for beds. There are always enough and so we do not worry about this, only having enough time to rest and do the washing before dinner time.
We have met many nice people lately including one woman from Cape Town who I will get in touch with when I am there in Feb. She lives in Muizenberg and is a wonderful lady who I have had some good converstions with so look forward to meeting up with her along the way.
We have also noticed that there are a lot of people getting sick since Burgos. I was told that ths happens and to avoid this, we had been drinking bottled water and being very careful with the food we eat, but still there are 2 of my group who got quite ill with a GI problem, They are better now, but I find that I am very tired these past 2 days. We are walking now about 26 or more kms per day. Today is day 18 and so the fatique is likely due to the large number of kms I have walked with these poor feet. We are now at a total of 449 kms and the total distance is 778 to Santiago. I think when we get to 500, I will start to count down instead of up.
As we walk along, there are many thoughts that pass through my head, sometimes though it is all I can do to just focus on keeping one foot in front of the other as the pain in my feet is so bad. I have started to walk more slowly and to stop and rest about each hour as that helps. I think that my feet suffer from being hot so I take my boot off and change my socks as well, haning the spare pair with a pin from the back of my pack to dry out. I just think the bones are tired from the constant pounding and the movement for 6 - 7 hours each day. I am proud of myself for getting this far though and am thankful for my good health in managing it.
We sleep in these crowded rooms each night. The other night in the convent, as I was falling asleep with 8 other people in close quarters, I realized that the room was about 60% of the size of my bedroom at home and that I could easily fit bunk beds for 10 people in my own bedroom with another in the walk in closet. I am so thankful for a small space to put my things and to lay my head at the end of each day that I know I will appreciate the luxury of my home once I get there in a few weeks.
As I walk I have been wonderng what to think about and so just let the thoughts come as they will. I do concentrate hard on the pain in my feet to try to make it less and at other times thank my feet for the great power that they give me. There is much focus on the feet on this journey and many people who seem to walk well during the day are seen to hobble in the evening. It is interesting how my feet recover during the night. They ache in the beginning of the night, getiing less as the night progresses and in the mornng are fine once more. We have a wonderful power of healing with rest is what I am learning and as well, need to respect this function that is so simple in each day of life.
During the day, I pass many people who are residents of the small villages and as we pass by, there is so much friendliness from them. In the community of pilgrims at the end of each day, there is also a great feeling of togetherness as we are all on the same kind of mission with some similar intention, I believe.
I meet interesting people every day and am reminded of how easy it is to create relatedness with people I do not know. I guess that is the magic of the Camino that people are open to conversation even though there is a language barrier. They still respond.
I am now about 18 kms away from Leon and tomorrow we will have a short hike to the city where we will spend the day. We may even stay in a hostel for a change with our own bathroom and bedroom which will be a luxury.
Well I must head out to the shop and buy something for breakfast as I am running out of food. Whatever I buy is now weighed very carefully so that I do not have to carry too much. The back pack is much lighter these days or perhaps I am accustomed to its weight and it feels like a friend to me in some ways as it contains all of the essentials that I need for life at the moment. When I remember the manic way I carried it in the beginning and the pain in my shoulders that I had it seems like a different pack now. Anyway, everything changes as you walk along and think of mostly things that are not really relevant.
I recognize that a lot of my thoughts are worries and worries about things that may happen in the future and what a waste of energy this is thinking up things that may never happen. I wonder to myself how much of this is a practice in my real life and how much time and energy I spend thinking up potential problems and then fretting over them as if they were real. Interesting to contemplate.
Today the hospitalero gave each of us a card to pick from a deck as we paid for our bed and here is mine which I think is very relevant
"In any second you can change your life. To really live, you need only courage to do it".
Buen Camino............Maggee
We have met many nice people lately including one woman from Cape Town who I will get in touch with when I am there in Feb. She lives in Muizenberg and is a wonderful lady who I have had some good converstions with so look forward to meeting up with her along the way.
We have also noticed that there are a lot of people getting sick since Burgos. I was told that ths happens and to avoid this, we had been drinking bottled water and being very careful with the food we eat, but still there are 2 of my group who got quite ill with a GI problem, They are better now, but I find that I am very tired these past 2 days. We are walking now about 26 or more kms per day. Today is day 18 and so the fatique is likely due to the large number of kms I have walked with these poor feet. We are now at a total of 449 kms and the total distance is 778 to Santiago. I think when we get to 500, I will start to count down instead of up.
As we walk along, there are many thoughts that pass through my head, sometimes though it is all I can do to just focus on keeping one foot in front of the other as the pain in my feet is so bad. I have started to walk more slowly and to stop and rest about each hour as that helps. I think that my feet suffer from being hot so I take my boot off and change my socks as well, haning the spare pair with a pin from the back of my pack to dry out. I just think the bones are tired from the constant pounding and the movement for 6 - 7 hours each day. I am proud of myself for getting this far though and am thankful for my good health in managing it.
We sleep in these crowded rooms each night. The other night in the convent, as I was falling asleep with 8 other people in close quarters, I realized that the room was about 60% of the size of my bedroom at home and that I could easily fit bunk beds for 10 people in my own bedroom with another in the walk in closet. I am so thankful for a small space to put my things and to lay my head at the end of each day that I know I will appreciate the luxury of my home once I get there in a few weeks.
As I walk I have been wonderng what to think about and so just let the thoughts come as they will. I do concentrate hard on the pain in my feet to try to make it less and at other times thank my feet for the great power that they give me. There is much focus on the feet on this journey and many people who seem to walk well during the day are seen to hobble in the evening. It is interesting how my feet recover during the night. They ache in the beginning of the night, getiing less as the night progresses and in the mornng are fine once more. We have a wonderful power of healing with rest is what I am learning and as well, need to respect this function that is so simple in each day of life.
During the day, I pass many people who are residents of the small villages and as we pass by, there is so much friendliness from them. In the community of pilgrims at the end of each day, there is also a great feeling of togetherness as we are all on the same kind of mission with some similar intention, I believe.
I meet interesting people every day and am reminded of how easy it is to create relatedness with people I do not know. I guess that is the magic of the Camino that people are open to conversation even though there is a language barrier. They still respond.
I am now about 18 kms away from Leon and tomorrow we will have a short hike to the city where we will spend the day. We may even stay in a hostel for a change with our own bathroom and bedroom which will be a luxury.
Well I must head out to the shop and buy something for breakfast as I am running out of food. Whatever I buy is now weighed very carefully so that I do not have to carry too much. The back pack is much lighter these days or perhaps I am accustomed to its weight and it feels like a friend to me in some ways as it contains all of the essentials that I need for life at the moment. When I remember the manic way I carried it in the beginning and the pain in my shoulders that I had it seems like a different pack now. Anyway, everything changes as you walk along and think of mostly things that are not really relevant.
I recognize that a lot of my thoughts are worries and worries about things that may happen in the future and what a waste of energy this is thinking up things that may never happen. I wonder to myself how much of this is a practice in my real life and how much time and energy I spend thinking up potential problems and then fretting over them as if they were real. Interesting to contemplate.
Today the hospitalero gave each of us a card to pick from a deck as we paid for our bed and here is mine which I think is very relevant
"In any second you can change your life. To really live, you need only courage to do it".
Buen Camino............Maggee
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Half Way There!
It is day 17 today and we have walked a total of 396 kms. We have picked up the pace a bit as we are walking through the Meseta which although it is flat, still poses challenges. The daily rate is now between 25 and 30 kms and we can see the difference this makes to our level of fatique and our poor feet. While the land is pretty flat, today was a very hard morning with 17 kms on rough gravel roads which was quite taxing. As well, there was nothing along the way for diversion, like a coffee stop or other interesting sites. With a few rest breaks, we managed to get to the first town after about 4 hours. The kms seem to take longer here, than when I was training and I think that carrying the back pack and the different terrain makes a difference in just how fast we can go. I clocked my rate at 5 kms per hour yesterday, but this is not always so steady.
We are enjoying the food along the way. There is a variety of shops to buy food for breakfast and lunch and often breakfast is a simple yogurt or juice and fruit until the first bar for cafe con leche. This is accompanied by a cheese bocadillo which is fresh bread sandwich with cheese or ham. We need this kind of nourishment as the effort of walking all morning takes something. We often have wine in the afternoon with snacks, following the arrival, showers and washing our clothes. Dinner is usuall very fine and we have been enjoying wonderful cooking and special soups like lentil and garlic soups. The main courses can be a stew or fish or chicken of some kind and usually fruit or ice cream for desert. All of this costs about 9 euros for the dinner each day and of course the jug or bottle of wine is always included.
Food, water and foot care become the priority once we have found accomodation for the night. Last night we stayed in a convent or beside the convent actually, anticipating that it would be a serene place of beauty and calm and instead was a rather austere and crowded location which was not entirely restful. Today we have lucked out and stopped a bit earlier than planned and we have 2 rooms, each with 2 beds, so we can close the doors and get some uninterupted sleep tonight.
In every little town or village that we pass through, we see wonderful churches and also statues of pilgrims of the past. The Camino has become quite an attraction and also a way for these little towns to prosper with the many people that travel through each day. There can be literally hundreds of pilgrims walking through a small village daily, each of them stopping for a drink or something at the local bar and so the residents, while you wonder how they stand the constant stream of people, seem to take it all in their stride.
Today as I was walking or hobbling rather along the gravel, it occurred to me that it was a simile for my life, in that I really don't like the hardship of how things have gone at times in the past and will be choosing differently the kinds of direction that I take from here for myself. We also talk a lot about the lessons on the Camino for our life and after this walk is over. We come back to the same few things which are related to being kind and generous to others.
Living like this with so many other people, you are seldom alone, except when walking, and you are usually surrounded by opportunities to relate to new people in ways that are new because of the language and the culture differences. Does not matter that the ages variation of everyone here is great, people just seem to engage with each other in a way that does not normally occur in real life and so it makes you think about how it could be if we were to put a more humane touch into our perspective with each other in our real life.
Tomorrow we will be travelling again on the flat roads and hopefully not too rough as my poor feet ache with the walking over stones. Since we are now a bit more than half way, I can see that there will be an end to this journey eventually, which was hard to really see at the beginning.
Until next time...............Maggee
We are enjoying the food along the way. There is a variety of shops to buy food for breakfast and lunch and often breakfast is a simple yogurt or juice and fruit until the first bar for cafe con leche. This is accompanied by a cheese bocadillo which is fresh bread sandwich with cheese or ham. We need this kind of nourishment as the effort of walking all morning takes something. We often have wine in the afternoon with snacks, following the arrival, showers and washing our clothes. Dinner is usuall very fine and we have been enjoying wonderful cooking and special soups like lentil and garlic soups. The main courses can be a stew or fish or chicken of some kind and usually fruit or ice cream for desert. All of this costs about 9 euros for the dinner each day and of course the jug or bottle of wine is always included.
Food, water and foot care become the priority once we have found accomodation for the night. Last night we stayed in a convent or beside the convent actually, anticipating that it would be a serene place of beauty and calm and instead was a rather austere and crowded location which was not entirely restful. Today we have lucked out and stopped a bit earlier than planned and we have 2 rooms, each with 2 beds, so we can close the doors and get some uninterupted sleep tonight.
In every little town or village that we pass through, we see wonderful churches and also statues of pilgrims of the past. The Camino has become quite an attraction and also a way for these little towns to prosper with the many people that travel through each day. There can be literally hundreds of pilgrims walking through a small village daily, each of them stopping for a drink or something at the local bar and so the residents, while you wonder how they stand the constant stream of people, seem to take it all in their stride.
Today as I was walking or hobbling rather along the gravel, it occurred to me that it was a simile for my life, in that I really don't like the hardship of how things have gone at times in the past and will be choosing differently the kinds of direction that I take from here for myself. We also talk a lot about the lessons on the Camino for our life and after this walk is over. We come back to the same few things which are related to being kind and generous to others.
Living like this with so many other people, you are seldom alone, except when walking, and you are usually surrounded by opportunities to relate to new people in ways that are new because of the language and the culture differences. Does not matter that the ages variation of everyone here is great, people just seem to engage with each other in a way that does not normally occur in real life and so it makes you think about how it could be if we were to put a more humane touch into our perspective with each other in our real life.
Tomorrow we will be travelling again on the flat roads and hopefully not too rough as my poor feet ache with the walking over stones. Since we are now a bit more than half way, I can see that there will be an end to this journey eventually, which was hard to really see at the beginning.
Until next time...............Maggee
Friday, September 12, 2008
Walking Away from Grief
It is an interesting experience to look around at who travels this road with me. Many people are here because of a life event that is a source of trauma or loss and others simply becuase it is a life time goal to do this kind of journey. For me I have realized that each step takes me farther from the knee buckling feeling of loss and despair since Chris died almost 2 years ago, farther from the feeling that he is still around in a spiritual presence sence and more like I am walking towards a future that becomes defined as I comtemplate and listen to my own breathing in the sound of the wind and the birds as they awaken in the early morning. I have the feeling the most people are here because of grief over a loss, could be a death of someone close to them, could be a job they loved and could be recovery from a life threatning illness. Whatever it is, there is a compelling feeling that the process of day after day of simply walking is a therapy like no other.
Today I picked up a stone from one of the many cairns that we pass each day. The idea is that each person ought to pick up such a stone and carry it for a day and leave it at the next cairn, thus transporting the stones to Santiago. Today the stone I carried was a symbol of all of those things that I am grateful for from the life that I had with Chris before he died. It made me realize how many moments there were and memories that were full of laughter and surprise and most of all adventure. With the ending of the afternoon, there were little blue butterlfies all around me as if this was a sign of acknowledgement to me from him. I decided that by the end of the day that I would summarize these memories into 3 basic things that I am most grateful to him for and with that I deposted the stone that I had carried at the cross just outside the place we are staying tonight.
This alberque I had heard about and it is as they say, like an oasis in the desert. through old old wooden doors you enter a most beautiful garden with wonderful flowers and a swimming pool. You are greeted by a wonderful host who leads you to a place to sleep for the night and tells you to rest and get settled and then come and pay him. Boy our hotels could learn something from this approach. There are many people here and it is really a bit crowded, but the atmosphere is very international and many people talking and sharing their stories together in many languages.
We sleep in a loft, having to climb a ladder above the 14 bunks that are in the dorm below, This arrangement would never pass the safety standards at home and we are certain to not want to use the toilet during the night. We sleep on single beds and must walk along plank floors hanging onto a kind of rope affair at the edge of the loft. It is like nothing I have seen before.
It is much colder than I anticipated and this morning it was maybe about 5C or less so the fleece hat and gloves were handy. I do not think I have enough warm clothes for the next few weeks and may have to buy somethng somewhere. I had anticipated much warmer weather. We hear that there is snow prediceted for the Pyrenees this evening! Imagine!
We are walking through the most wonderful scenery now and the rolling hills and the farm lands are so beautiful against the cloud filled sky. the sun is warm in the afternoon and so the days are very pleasant once the sun comes to provide some warmth.
Tomorrow we will be walking through the very flat area of the meseta and this is said to be the most boring, although I have not been at all bored with this walking yet. Each day provides something no matter what the atmosphere and so I look forward to having the surprise be in the present, cherishing my good health and my fitness that seems to improve with each day.
How blessed I am!!
Maggee
Today I picked up a stone from one of the many cairns that we pass each day. The idea is that each person ought to pick up such a stone and carry it for a day and leave it at the next cairn, thus transporting the stones to Santiago. Today the stone I carried was a symbol of all of those things that I am grateful for from the life that I had with Chris before he died. It made me realize how many moments there were and memories that were full of laughter and surprise and most of all adventure. With the ending of the afternoon, there were little blue butterlfies all around me as if this was a sign of acknowledgement to me from him. I decided that by the end of the day that I would summarize these memories into 3 basic things that I am most grateful to him for and with that I deposted the stone that I had carried at the cross just outside the place we are staying tonight.
This alberque I had heard about and it is as they say, like an oasis in the desert. through old old wooden doors you enter a most beautiful garden with wonderful flowers and a swimming pool. You are greeted by a wonderful host who leads you to a place to sleep for the night and tells you to rest and get settled and then come and pay him. Boy our hotels could learn something from this approach. There are many people here and it is really a bit crowded, but the atmosphere is very international and many people talking and sharing their stories together in many languages.
We sleep in a loft, having to climb a ladder above the 14 bunks that are in the dorm below, This arrangement would never pass the safety standards at home and we are certain to not want to use the toilet during the night. We sleep on single beds and must walk along plank floors hanging onto a kind of rope affair at the edge of the loft. It is like nothing I have seen before.
It is much colder than I anticipated and this morning it was maybe about 5C or less so the fleece hat and gloves were handy. I do not think I have enough warm clothes for the next few weeks and may have to buy somethng somewhere. I had anticipated much warmer weather. We hear that there is snow prediceted for the Pyrenees this evening! Imagine!
We are walking through the most wonderful scenery now and the rolling hills and the farm lands are so beautiful against the cloud filled sky. the sun is warm in the afternoon and so the days are very pleasant once the sun comes to provide some warmth.
Tomorrow we will be walking through the very flat area of the meseta and this is said to be the most boring, although I have not been at all bored with this walking yet. Each day provides something no matter what the atmosphere and so I look forward to having the surprise be in the present, cherishing my good health and my fitness that seems to improve with each day.
How blessed I am!!
Maggee
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Today is a Gift
We walk each day with thoughts that are generated by our conversations and our experiences. kirsten provided us with a reminder of the following yesterday and we have taken this on as our mantra for each day.
Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift which is why it is called the present
We have enjoyed the beautiful city of Burgos and as soon as I can find a computer compatible for my camera attachment I will post some of the pictures that I took. The cathedral is simply breath taking and it takes quite some time to just walk through it all. It is very very old and has taken hundreds of years to actually build it and you cannot imagine the work and the effort that would have been required to do this type of construction in those days. As well, the power of the church is overwhelming when you see the opulence and richness that is contained in each church that we pass. This one is the most beautiful in Europe and you can certianly see why. Burgos is a wonderful city with so much interest and lots of wonderful sites to see in every corner. I mostly enjoy the late afternoons when everyone comes out into the squares to visit. The children are dressed in their best and the older peoploe come and sit on the benches or in the cafes together and the family environment is simply remarkable when you compare it to our own country. The older people are everywhere and included with the younger people, yet have their own place in the square for being together as well. As the bells ring and as the light fades, there is such a festive atmosphere everywhere that it is wonderful to just sit and watch.
It was a joy to leave the city this morning,. While the alberque in Burgos is beautiful and only 3 euros, newly opened this year, the crowd of more than 100 gave it a different feel from the smaller places that have been more familiar to us. Today we have walked for 31 kms and are now in Hontanas in such a beautiful place 5 euros, and will enjoy a lovely meal here this evening.´
We walked through a few small villages this morning and then arrived after walking up a hill on the renowned meseta. I have heard so much about this place which extends from Burgos to Leon over a few hundred kms and is really like the prairies. It is wonderful, rolling hills, silent except for the wind which sweeps across the fields and except for a few sheep and some shepards, there was really no one except for pilgrims walking along the dirt roads.
I have a few thoughts about wind and notice the difference in various places. the prairie wind is something, as it envelopes your entire body and blows hard enough even when gentle that your ears resound with the feel and the sound. You are washed in wind when you cross such a broad expanse of plains and there is not much to think about as you wend your way along the road. This is different from the whispering effect of wind that I felt in the vineyards and different again from the whistle of wind that I sat and enjoyed in the pine forests some days ago. You have time to ponder such things on this camino as there is a lot of time for being present to the simple things that we ordinarily would not even notice.
We passed the 300 km mark this morning and with our monumental walk of 31 kms today, we will have achieved around 325 kms total so far. I felt that we had to pick up the pace a little today since the walk was flat and so that we could meet our target of being in Santiago by Oct 1, as we have planes to catch, otherwise it would be better just to walk and to stop as you felt it appropriate.
Well, there are people reading this blog from around the world and I am getting such wonderful mesages on the postings that it is heartening to see how much interest there is in this experience of mine.
My good friends and I are about to sit down with our daily bottles of wine now so I must sign off and join them.
We fight over who pays and it is such a laugh as it is all so darn cheap.
The wonder of people just being able to be together in such an authentic and caring manner continues to be a joy in this process of walking, talking, reflecting and growing in my very soul.
Buen Camino..........Maggee
Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift which is why it is called the present
We have enjoyed the beautiful city of Burgos and as soon as I can find a computer compatible for my camera attachment I will post some of the pictures that I took. The cathedral is simply breath taking and it takes quite some time to just walk through it all. It is very very old and has taken hundreds of years to actually build it and you cannot imagine the work and the effort that would have been required to do this type of construction in those days. As well, the power of the church is overwhelming when you see the opulence and richness that is contained in each church that we pass. This one is the most beautiful in Europe and you can certianly see why. Burgos is a wonderful city with so much interest and lots of wonderful sites to see in every corner. I mostly enjoy the late afternoons when everyone comes out into the squares to visit. The children are dressed in their best and the older peoploe come and sit on the benches or in the cafes together and the family environment is simply remarkable when you compare it to our own country. The older people are everywhere and included with the younger people, yet have their own place in the square for being together as well. As the bells ring and as the light fades, there is such a festive atmosphere everywhere that it is wonderful to just sit and watch.
It was a joy to leave the city this morning,. While the alberque in Burgos is beautiful and only 3 euros, newly opened this year, the crowd of more than 100 gave it a different feel from the smaller places that have been more familiar to us. Today we have walked for 31 kms and are now in Hontanas in such a beautiful place 5 euros, and will enjoy a lovely meal here this evening.´
We walked through a few small villages this morning and then arrived after walking up a hill on the renowned meseta. I have heard so much about this place which extends from Burgos to Leon over a few hundred kms and is really like the prairies. It is wonderful, rolling hills, silent except for the wind which sweeps across the fields and except for a few sheep and some shepards, there was really no one except for pilgrims walking along the dirt roads.
I have a few thoughts about wind and notice the difference in various places. the prairie wind is something, as it envelopes your entire body and blows hard enough even when gentle that your ears resound with the feel and the sound. You are washed in wind when you cross such a broad expanse of plains and there is not much to think about as you wend your way along the road. This is different from the whispering effect of wind that I felt in the vineyards and different again from the whistle of wind that I sat and enjoyed in the pine forests some days ago. You have time to ponder such things on this camino as there is a lot of time for being present to the simple things that we ordinarily would not even notice.
We passed the 300 km mark this morning and with our monumental walk of 31 kms today, we will have achieved around 325 kms total so far. I felt that we had to pick up the pace a little today since the walk was flat and so that we could meet our target of being in Santiago by Oct 1, as we have planes to catch, otherwise it would be better just to walk and to stop as you felt it appropriate.
Well, there are people reading this blog from around the world and I am getting such wonderful mesages on the postings that it is heartening to see how much interest there is in this experience of mine.
My good friends and I are about to sit down with our daily bottles of wine now so I must sign off and join them.
We fight over who pays and it is such a laugh as it is all so darn cheap.
The wonder of people just being able to be together in such an authentic and caring manner continues to be a joy in this process of walking, talking, reflecting and growing in my very soul.
Buen Camino..........Maggee
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Rain at Last
We have walked for 12 days in beautiful sun shine and pretty warm weather so far. the mornings are much cooler as there have been 2 occassions when I really benefitted from myt fleece hat and gloves. We have walked more kms lately each day and certainly felt the effect of that with greater fatique and also sore feet. With 26 kms and then 24 the following day, we have today only walked 18 kms which was pretty much a cake walk. We have now covered 268 kms in total!!
We have been walking through farm land for the past 3 days although still close enough to the wine country that we get a jug of vino tinto with each meal along with the jug of water. Today for the first time we had a good rainy day and were able to test out our rain gear which worked quite well. By noon, the sun was out and so everything was able to dry out before clouds returned once again.
We are now a group of 4 with a plan to follow the Danish schedule to get us to Santiago by Oct 1. Kirsten is our leader and because she is the youngest she scouts out the way out of town while we have our afternoon siesta. She is also the story teller and relates wonderful mythological stories to us in her beautiful accent, as we walk and when we stop for a break. Alvina is our French Canadian poet and each day has a special quote for us. She is very well read and can tell us many things as we walk and talk and has such wonderful travel experiences and profound interests in art and literature and music. I find her quite an inspiration. Barb is a traveller and very down to earth and talks to everyone whether they understand her or not! They have decided that I am Maggee the practical, providing food, medicines and good advice when needed. We have also picked up a Dutch woman walking on her own so we are quite a group and already have the reputation of being the ones with laughter and good wishes for everyone along the way.
We have become expert at fixing the problems of the feet and you would laugh to see the surgery that gets performed on our blisters. First you take a needle and white thread and run it through some iodine and then you push the needle and the thread right through the blister to the other side, pulling the thread through so that you can tie it in a knot. this allows the blister to drain and thus heal itself. We will all have funny looking black bits of thread hanging from various locations on our feet when this is done. Blisters appear in new places when the terrain changes or if it gets wet or if you do anything to change your foot wear. For me I have a new blister which comes from a piece of tape that I put on one toe to protect it!
This is quite a journey and I am so enjoying just the reflective time along the way especially in the early morning when it is very dark and quiet and we walk with our various flashlights, and as the sun comes up and the day light appears, there are sounds of birds and the early morning awakening to the day.
We are able to cover at least 12 - 15 kms by 9 am each day which is the first stop for cafe con leche and a pastry. We are able to arrive at our albeque by 1 or 2 pm each day and have usually covered about 22 - 24 kms by then which is enough for now. Each accommodation has been wonderful, clean and very adequate and the people we travel with are polite, friendly and very nice to be with. No problems with any thing like I had read about on the on line forums I had been reading.
Tomorrow we will reach Burgos which is one of the largest cities we will cross and look forward to the cathedral there which is supposed to be the most beautiful one in Europe. We plan to start to pick up our pace so that we can walk longer distances once we pass Burgos as the meseta (prairie I think) is flatter and easier to walk. there have been plenty of hills each day and so we are getting quite fit with the effort required to do this each day, sometimes the most difficult are first thing in the morning which gets you going pretty good!
I am finding that the experience of travelling like this is both cheap in dollars and so rich in experience and with each morning, you never know what wonderful thing will transpire through the day. We meet a lot of very wonderful people and sometimes we are talking different languages _ for example_ the directions for fixing our feet were entirely in Portugese from a man who had acted as a voluntter hospitalero in Leon and had seen many messy feet in his experience. We also communicate with the Italian couple every day in abundance and between theri limited French and ours, we have a great friendship developing. So many things to learn from the simple experiences of life. We share dormitories with sometimes more than 20 beds, I am getting good arm muscles from swinging like a monkey from the top bunk which I prefer. We have common showers and toilet areas so that there is modesty, but practicality as well and we all seem to get along just fine and there are no problems that I have noticed at all with these arrangements.
I am travelling as I had imagined except it is richer becuase of the friendships that are forming and these are inspiring me to think about how I will enrich my life when I get home. There is generosity and wisdom from each person and such wonderful converstions each day. Such a cheap and abundant experience I could not have imagined for my life and I see how people become addicted to this Camino. It is not so much the journey itself, although it is magical walking through these ancient villages, it is rather the raw human experience of just being together with others on a common mission, ie to explore our purpose in life and to get to a simpler place of living.
Rain tomorrow and even that is not a problem as we are well equipped and this just adds to the interest of this experience.
Buen Camino..........Maggee
We have been walking through farm land for the past 3 days although still close enough to the wine country that we get a jug of vino tinto with each meal along with the jug of water. Today for the first time we had a good rainy day and were able to test out our rain gear which worked quite well. By noon, the sun was out and so everything was able to dry out before clouds returned once again.
We are now a group of 4 with a plan to follow the Danish schedule to get us to Santiago by Oct 1. Kirsten is our leader and because she is the youngest she scouts out the way out of town while we have our afternoon siesta. She is also the story teller and relates wonderful mythological stories to us in her beautiful accent, as we walk and when we stop for a break. Alvina is our French Canadian poet and each day has a special quote for us. She is very well read and can tell us many things as we walk and talk and has such wonderful travel experiences and profound interests in art and literature and music. I find her quite an inspiration. Barb is a traveller and very down to earth and talks to everyone whether they understand her or not! They have decided that I am Maggee the practical, providing food, medicines and good advice when needed. We have also picked up a Dutch woman walking on her own so we are quite a group and already have the reputation of being the ones with laughter and good wishes for everyone along the way.
We have become expert at fixing the problems of the feet and you would laugh to see the surgery that gets performed on our blisters. First you take a needle and white thread and run it through some iodine and then you push the needle and the thread right through the blister to the other side, pulling the thread through so that you can tie it in a knot. this allows the blister to drain and thus heal itself. We will all have funny looking black bits of thread hanging from various locations on our feet when this is done. Blisters appear in new places when the terrain changes or if it gets wet or if you do anything to change your foot wear. For me I have a new blister which comes from a piece of tape that I put on one toe to protect it!
This is quite a journey and I am so enjoying just the reflective time along the way especially in the early morning when it is very dark and quiet and we walk with our various flashlights, and as the sun comes up and the day light appears, there are sounds of birds and the early morning awakening to the day.
We are able to cover at least 12 - 15 kms by 9 am each day which is the first stop for cafe con leche and a pastry. We are able to arrive at our albeque by 1 or 2 pm each day and have usually covered about 22 - 24 kms by then which is enough for now. Each accommodation has been wonderful, clean and very adequate and the people we travel with are polite, friendly and very nice to be with. No problems with any thing like I had read about on the on line forums I had been reading.
Tomorrow we will reach Burgos which is one of the largest cities we will cross and look forward to the cathedral there which is supposed to be the most beautiful one in Europe. We plan to start to pick up our pace so that we can walk longer distances once we pass Burgos as the meseta (prairie I think) is flatter and easier to walk. there have been plenty of hills each day and so we are getting quite fit with the effort required to do this each day, sometimes the most difficult are first thing in the morning which gets you going pretty good!
I am finding that the experience of travelling like this is both cheap in dollars and so rich in experience and with each morning, you never know what wonderful thing will transpire through the day. We meet a lot of very wonderful people and sometimes we are talking different languages _ for example_ the directions for fixing our feet were entirely in Portugese from a man who had acted as a voluntter hospitalero in Leon and had seen many messy feet in his experience. We also communicate with the Italian couple every day in abundance and between theri limited French and ours, we have a great friendship developing. So many things to learn from the simple experiences of life. We share dormitories with sometimes more than 20 beds, I am getting good arm muscles from swinging like a monkey from the top bunk which I prefer. We have common showers and toilet areas so that there is modesty, but practicality as well and we all seem to get along just fine and there are no problems that I have noticed at all with these arrangements.
I am travelling as I had imagined except it is richer becuase of the friendships that are forming and these are inspiring me to think about how I will enrich my life when I get home. There is generosity and wisdom from each person and such wonderful converstions each day. Such a cheap and abundant experience I could not have imagined for my life and I see how people become addicted to this Camino. It is not so much the journey itself, although it is magical walking through these ancient villages, it is rather the raw human experience of just being together with others on a common mission, ie to explore our purpose in life and to get to a simpler place of living.
Rain tomorrow and even that is not a problem as we are well equipped and this just adds to the interest of this experience.
Buen Camino..........Maggee
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