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!

Saturday, November 27, 2010

7-29-10 Calzadilla de la Cueza to Bercianos del Real Camino day 116

7-29-10 Calzadilla de la Cueza to Bercianos del Real Camino day 116
I woke a little after six... get going by 6.30 but we got coffee inn town.. so its 6:45 by time we actually start to walk.. I thought I'd be walking 24kms so I did not mind the late start.. again with heat of the day it is best to get your walking done early ..so 6:45 is kind of late..also I believe when you walk with someone it's a different kind of schedule from the one you'd have on your own.....I could feel in my body right away, that it would be a hard day.. we walked fast pace again.. despite doubts we did get pretty far pretty early.. hitting towns pretty frequently...which meant that we arrived in Shagun by noon. At times we walked over 5kms an hour..the landscape was a bit more interesting than yesterday...the blue skies and dry grass landscape with striking yet simple plaster walled houses tickled my eyes.... I was torn about the company I was keeping, on the one hand she helped me go faster but I did feel a bit tense about lack independence.. but she seemed harmless and the company was quiet..yet there was this doubt creeping in.. but I could not make a decision whether to split from her or not.. .., in Sahagun..we left our packs in a pilgrim's auberge and walked around bit ...She seemed to be interested in seeing things in this town.. I told her she would take the lead but that I also wanted to sit for a little bit and have a rest... she had a map and directions on what to see, but then did not seem to follow through.... I did stop at a electronics store in hopes of finding some solution to my lap top.. I got cord that supposedly could connect to another screen so I could at least open up my computer...but later I would discover that the formating is different enough from these small lap tops that it is not an automatic as I had hoped.. .. by two we left the city... without seeing the church or anything she had initially wanted to... on our way out of town she seemed bummed that she could not linger..i tried to let her know she could do what she wanted...but she ended up walking with me again....i had decided to keep walking even though I kinda knew it was a bad idea with the impending heat ...

we walked from 2 to 4.30 which was again too late in the heat and my km day stretched to over 30 which is always hard on me..... near the end, my body felt wrecked.. hips hurt.. I took 3 ibuprofens this day. When we arrived at our auberge for the night, we were told by everyone we came too late.. and should avoid afternoon sun..duh... This place was donation based auberge.. I talked to a french swiss girl who also barely spoke english, we had both been inspired by reading Paulo Coehlo's book to start our own walk of the camino..

and S found a bunch of french peeps that she could chat with..The dinner here was communal and free,... because of S and because I was not exerting my will, I was in company at dinner with only the french people and no one spoke english, I made a note to myself to find a more mixed national group next time, if I had to eat communally... I was not quite sure how vegetarian the soup I ate was but it and salad were my only options..... I could not get my ipod charged up because of the issues with my lap top... it was still my only real antidote against loud snorers...S got me to go to a catholic mass, it was suppose to be a special blessing for us pilgrims.. I went somewhat reluctantly... S seemed to be a rather devote catholic, and somehow I had not been inclined to talk to her about the fact that I was not.. ..but I was here on a catholic pilgrims path, and I think getting blessings for this journey from any tradition was a good thing... it was thankfully a short affair completely in spanish, because the chapel was bloody hot..even the spanish ladies in the rows in front of me had there beautiful fans out and used them rigorously..... My body seemed full of complaints today, feet seem more sore than usual.. and my hips..
the section I was sleeping in had a new wave of pilgrims ..they are loud and and excited, speaking I think polish, and drinking wine ...armed only with earplugs, they made me grumpy...but it did not go on too late.. auberge living is hard on days when I need quality alone time.. ..and on rereading this update a few months later, I sure sound like I was having an off day this day..

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