adventure starts 3-30-10

I am taking another long trip. I am not completely sure, where i will end up. The only thing i know with some certainty is that i will arrive in Rome Italy, then head up to Assisi. My goal is to walk across to Santiago Spain. I hope to meet some old and new travel friends along the way. I also hope to introspect and gather experience and wisdom to enrich my life. I believe i will end back up in Asia, and once there I will probably do meditation retreats. this blog will document me, as I get all this sorted!

Monday, July 19, 2010

6-20-10 En Calcat to Revel day 77

6-20-10 En Calcat to Revel day 77
woke up the usual little before six, since that's when the noises of others waking started around me.. I went down stairs to make coffee...someone had set breakfast and started the coffee.. I was very happy...so instead I got my gear ready.. I joined the Freiburg ladies for breakfast... mostly bread and butter... eventually Ms Ulm would join..she had gone to the morning service and seemed taken by this morning. I had missed evening conversation but was quite engaged again this morning.. I had seen cows that had tear tracks down their faces the day before and asked if they were crying or if this was normal.. I somehow thought that they were sad, perhaps somehow aware for their future fate... I was told that these were lucky cows for one they had their babies with them which is unusual...they went on to explain that when animals get ready be butchered it has to be done humanely because there are laws and also because the meat tastes really bad if the animal is stressed out, I had not heard that before, but it helped to hear there was actually a human incentive for not being too cruel when it came time to butcher the animal. ... i continued to be chatty so I got a later start.. around 8.45 but today was 20kms or so, so it seemed quite manageable. The emotionality of the day before seemed to be gone... so was the rain...although at times the clouds were dramatic, there would be no rain, just strong winds and some sun breaks..and at times it was quite chilly... I walked my usual pace and took hourly ten minute breaks... through-out the day I would meet up with the freiburg woman... I had mentioned to them, how I would reward myself with chocolate at the end of the day if there was a shop...they pulled out a giant kitkat bar and shared it with me....In Soreze we met again and found the rare occurance of an open cafe...

they had gotten some baked goods and we sat around eating that and a nice coffee while I roamed a little with the free wifi I found...no other pilgrim is traveling with a lap top, they think it is a funny accessory.. I arrived in Revel along a channel, the markings seemed to come and go... there seemed to be some sort of fishing festival going on... I walked through it,and into town, graffiti on walls... my pilgrims markings almost absent...but the center of town seemed easy enough to find because this was not a big place... just as I thought I saw some shops, I saw the a blue house with a shell on the wall, I suspected that this was my destination, it was definitely a Gite, so I rang the bell, a man from upstairs poked his head out and told me to come up. The doors were open.. I came upstairs after depositing my shoes (most gites don't like dirty hiking boots in the sleeping area so we all have sandals or flip flops to switch into) then, i found my two german friends already there. This Gite was not very large, six beds in one room...eventually the french couple showed up, two french men and even the young swiss couple we had not seen in a while... I did not expend much energy to explore the town, I regret not going to the church, it was open and had interesting steeples, almost onion domed...there were two shops open in town, a general store with from what I heard little fresh food, and a bakery...the bakery had outdoor seating and wifi...so I sat out there fore a few hours...I was quite cold and to add to this silliness i was drinking cold beer and eating quiche while trying to catch up on really over due blogs..and of course emails.. my friends came by a few times running errands shaking their heads at me sitting there and shivering.... eventually I came back home... sat in the kitchen, still on my lap top eating some more food and chatting with people who spoke a mutual language and watched as people came and went and prepared food for themselves... the older man from the french couple had relegated himself to the down stairs hall so that he would not disturb us with his snoring... which was really sweet but ironically we still had a pretty loud snorer in the room..so it's just something to get used to... I slept spotty not because of noise but because the usual unsettled-ness...

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