Month: July 2015

It is the middle of the night of day three and I’m waiting for the Melatonin to kick in. I’ve had broken sleep until now because the muscle pain in my legs keep waking me up.  There seems no better time to capture my thoughts and experiences than now.

We’ve walked 80 kilometers in three days, and the last 25.8 kilometers was all uphill – roughly 1000 meters high.  It wasn’t a paved park path either. In a day, we walk through so many different environments, changing from practically minute to minute. We would find ourselves walking on roadway, and then on gravel, through a town, then what seems like a sandstorm, the woods, through places that reminded me of a jungle and then kilometers of this – stones, rocks and big chunks of edges. 

There is a lot of time to think, because talking I find expends a lot of energy, of which is a precious thing to me at the moment.  Almost all peregrinos we’ve met so far have started from the beginning in St. Jean and they say that walking gets easier. The first three days are the hardest. You are challenged mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. And I agree with them one hundred percent! My feet are proof of this. Three days, and eight blisters, don’t stop you from walking and to continue means you are definitely being challenged.

I never thought that I would be able to walk 80 kilometers in three days. When we were training back home, walking 30 kilometers was difficult enough and I would be totally exhausted by the end of it, and to do this day after day is something else entirely!

Everyone has a reason for walking the Camino. Even those who say they have no reason but to just walk it, one gets revealed to them eventually. As I said before, there is a lot of time to think, and this is what I find is happening to me – reasons are being revealed to me. And I’m finding it liberating because with each step take, I feel myself cracking open, feeling things that I’ve never felt before but also discarding things that no longer serve me but have been hanging around like a bad smell.

I brought with me some stones which represent people that I love and which I intend to place on the trail along the way.  There are so many stones placed strategically along the way, some with messages on them, and you know that these all represent a loved one to someone.  And to know this is so moving! We passed this special location below which just moved me to tears, and it became a resting spot for a couple of my loved ones.  I find that I’m crying a lot, but that is no surprise.

There are stretches of the walk where it has been just Hubby and I and we wonder where everyone is, and then at times you tend to see the same people over and over again.  The people you meet while walking are so lovely, and with some you just make a certain type of connection.

We walked through these open fields for about eight kilometers without another person in sight.  We came across a booth of food and drink for free, a haven for pilgrims being offered by such a generous soul.  There was no home, but you could see that someone lived there.  When the man was questioned if he lives there alone, his response was “I live here, but I’m never alone. I have God with me all the time. I have nature and the universe with me.” How amazing! One of the pilgrims was moved so much by all of this that he spent the night there.  He crossed my mind a few times today as I wondered if he was OK, what he experienced etc.   We did cross paths again today, he told me about it all. He said that he felt that this was the place he needed to be in order to be filled up with God’s energy and now he feels that he can pass it onto others. It was a very spiritual place indeed. You could just feel it! And this is the man providing it, and the little boy from my previous post is in the picture too!

We have also experienced some synchronicity too.  While we were climbing today, suddenly an overwhelming feeling of hunger swept through us (I still can’t believe how hungry I am – I imagine that this is what a teenage boy feels like) and we decided to sit on the side of the path. We didn’t want to walk back a few meters to an opening. As we are eating, hubby sees a big stone with writing in front of him, and he nearly fell over when he read it! You see, Hubby wrote a book called Energizing Love.  It was picked up by a publisher in the UK and it is being launched in September. So to see this out of the blue is very special and meaningful to us.

And of course, it hasn’t always been quiet, contemplative and serious. We did take part in the Roman festival yesterday in Astorga. Astorga was invaded by the Greeks, Romans and others, but was never conquered and so they have this festival every year to celebrate. How fun it was walking around town with people dressed up in all different costumes!

And now to sleep some more!

Love,
Smartie

We are officially Peregrinos. We started our Camino today, well this afternoon at around 2:30 and wasn’t another pilgrim in sight.  We were walking in the right direction, we followed the arrows and sea shells that lead the way, but we seemed alone. I couldn’t figure out why.

But as we walked on, I started to figure out why. The sun was scorching down on us.  I would take advantage of any bit of shade I could find. It was friggin hot. The kind that could easily make you dizzy.

We started our journey in the afternoon because we had quite the adventure arriving to Leon yesterday. After the two hour delay at Pearson, we had to wait two and a half hours to get through customs in Barcelona. From there, what we thought would be a 4 hour drive to Leon, actually turned out to be almost 8. That didn’t bring us into the city until 10:30pm.

Our couch surfing hosts were awesome and seemed to take things in stride. They actually felt like old friends. They cooked dinner for us, and afterwards, at 12:30am we went out into town. I don’t remember the last time I did that.

Needless to say, with getting in at 2am, we slept in, which meant it took time to get ready.  But we did it. We walked through Leon, through a few other towns and saw the most amazing things.  And now we’re in the town of Villadangos del Paramo.

As we checked our boots by the front door, I saw these tiny ones and wondered if there was a kid, or if the owner had really small feet.  But as I walked to the beds, there he was, dead to the world asleep. I found out that he is six years old, has been walking since France and walks between 33-38 klms a day!

We’re sitting in the front courtyard of the Auberge waiting for the fiesta to begin.  I doubt we’ll see much because one thing I’ve noticed is that the Spaniards like to do things late at night and don’t actually go out until after 10pm.

Tomorrow morning is an early start and so I will have to get to bed, in a room with 30 other people, and I get the top bunk!

Adios,
Smartie

As I begin to write this post we are somewhere over the Atlantic. I’m not exactly sure where, but we’re getting close, probably and hour or two to landing.

I’m anxious about our walk. I have no problem admitting it. It is the most craziest thing I’ve ever done in my life. Walking 400+ kilometers with a backpack across northern Spain. Why did I agree to this again? I used to be the type of person who when I would travel would have plan A, B and C in place in case anything were to happen and I’d have everything with me packed in the event I would have to action them. And now my pack contains 3 underwear, 2 sports bras, 3 socks, 2 shorts, 2 t-shirts and whatever I’m wearing now and limited toiletries. Uh, helloooo? Can you see why I’m sort of, big time anxious?

I guess you could say that my travels this year have prepared me for this trip because I have learned to scale back (not through choice) – not having our luggage for 4 days during our honeymoon courtesy of United Airlines, packing for the wrong weather in Australia and for this trip, cutting available space in the backpack in half because we are planning to tent for a portion of the trip.

I’m sure things will be OK.  There will be plenary of people there, and it isn’t like I’m going to a third world country with no infrastructure. Besides, I will have this gorgeous guy by my side the entire time.

And it’s about letting go, right?

Well, because of that I’m finding that I’m a bit emotional.  I’m wondering how my daughter is doing on her flight to Portugal, if she has slept, if she is OK. I’m also missing my mom and sister a lot.  Most of all, I’m missing my dad. I dreamt of him while I slept on the plane and I feel that he is with me. It’s a strong feeling, probably the strongest I’ve felt from when he died almost five years ago. These are the people I will be taking on my walk with me, along with Hubby’s family.  They will be in my heart the entire time.

I just looked out the window and see that the sun has risen. What a beautiful sight.  According to my watch it would be almost 9am in Spain and we would be well into our walk for the day.  It looks warm and cozy out there – a big contrast to the very cold cabin we are in. 

I’ve brought my boots with me onto the plane as there was no room in my pack for them. I just put them on to warm my tootsies, and it is the first time I’ve donned them on in over three weeks. What a surprising homecoming feeling! I feel so grounded! Who would have thunk?

I really should get some more sleep but I feel fully awake. Hubby is sleeping which is good. He struggled with the time change between Australia and Toronto, so I’m really glad he’s sleeping. This trip was the easiest for me to adapt back to Toronto time. I hope my body cooperates with me now in Spain.  We must be getting close to arrival – I can smell the coffee coming from the back of the plane! Time to catch more z’s!!! But now I see land!!!!! Yay!!!! How could I possibly sleep now?

Love
Smartie