Well, itīs nice to hear that I am being missed at work... but Iīm not missing work - heehee Ok, I have Pfaff withdrawal the odd minute of every day!
Here we are in Burgos, just under 500 km to go, yahoo!!! And we are loving every minute of it! Actually, we took our first day off of walking today to let our bodies and Jillyīs left heel heal! We have been fairly lucky so far with our abilities to keep up a pretty good pace!
Actually, on our walk to Burgos yesterday we came across a sign that read... "Santiago, 518 km to go" Wow, if thatīs not reassuring I donīt know what is. So just picture walking from Ottawa to Toronto, thatīs what we have left to walk. Our packs feel very light now surprisingly, and once we get Jillyīs foot mended weīll be back to 30 km a day... ok, maybe 25 but letīs not be knitpicky... :)
The last five days or so we have travelled with 12 other pilgrims that were walking pretty much the same schedule as we were so it was nice to talk to everyone while they pass us or we pass them or socializing in the refugios after our daily punishment. We have met other Canadians, Aussies, lots of French and some Germans. We have also spent the last week with a Spanish family who have just finished here in Burgos. They will come back to finish it next year. Zaida, the daughter, has to go back for school in Gerona and youīll never believe this... her fatherīs name is Jesus! Who would have thought that Jill and I would meet Jesus while walking the Camino de Santiago!! We must be doing something right!
The Canadian tandem of Norah and Iylted (from Salt Spring Island) are off on a train today to Leon or somewhere because of time constraints. Mark and Remi (the Aussies) are also planning to finish the whole walk as we are, but they are riding solo. Actually, Mark and I had a great talk a few nights ago in San Juan de Ortega. He is also a teacher at a bording school in the land Down Under and has travelled to many of the same places I have (south island of New Zealand, all over Australia, Spain, etc). But the one who takes the cake is this man named Phillipe from France... he is a retired diplomat and he is the nicest, well intentioned man you could meet, actually almost too friendly. Anyways, we met him a few nights ago and heīs walked the Camino now 3 times already (I donīt know why, so donīt ask) but when he falls asleep.... well, honestly, he could bring the house down with his snoring! I am not kidding, itīs unbelievable. Itīs not only loud but he sounds like he could be on his last breath, itīs sickening. So the next night when we all got in to the refugio ahead of "the SNORER" we all headed to the second room of bunk beds and filled them with our stuff so he wouldnīt be in our room. Unbeknownst to us, others actually threw their stuff on both beds to take up the extra room because itīs that bad! We all had a good laugh!
Well, thatīs enough from me for now. Jilly will let you in on some of her profound thoughts!
Til next time,
Bow.
And thanks again for all of the comments!
Hi everyone ....
As Bow mentions above, we are really enjoying every step of the camino. Last Monday was an incredible day. Do you ever have those days when you wake up and have no idea that the day ahead will be one that you will remember forever? That was Monday for me.
We woke up in a small refugio in a town called Belerado. There were about 20 of us getting ready for the day ahead. Almost everyone was groggy because we had just tried to sleep through the orchestra coming out of Philippeīs nose all night long. Bow and I were pokey as per usual - we enjoyed a cola cao (hot chocolate) and cookies for breakfast before heading on our way around 8:30am.
It was only about three degrees outside so we were all bundled up in our toques and all. We had spent the past couple of days walking close to the busy roads so we were expecting more of the same. We were pleasantly surprised when the trail took us through farmland, villages, and then we climbed, climbed and climbed some more until we reached a great wooded trail which led to a beautiful lookout over the valley below. By this time, the sun was shining strong.
We arrived in San Juan de Ortega around 3pm and found our Canadian and Aussie friends already warming up the bar patio chairs beside the refugio. San Juan was a village with a church, refugio, bar and a couple of houses ... not too much else. We grabbed some bunks strategically away from the snorer and headed outside to enjoy the sunny afternoon.
We sat around for hours chatting about the day, travels, Canada, and whatever else came up while eating and drinking. Norah and Iylted carved their walking sticks. Bow went inside for an afternoon nap. All of the other pilgrims joined in as they arrived after the 24 km walk.
This refugio was famous for the priest who cooks garlic soup for the pilgrims. In order to get a bowl of his famous soup everyone had to go to church. So at 7pm, everyone headed from the bar to the church. The frail little priest offered a 15 minute mass before standing in front of us and philosophizing about why we are here walking the camino. It was translated into French and English by some of the other pilgrims. Then we went back to the refugio and everyone had a delicious bowl of garlic soup. Then back the bar for more food!
Mark the Aussie and Philippe from France sat down with Bow and I. Bow talked to Mark about Australia and I spoke in French to Philippe throughout dinner (my French was rough!). He was such a sweet man, itīs just too bad people, including us, are literally running from him to get their bunk in a different room because of his snoring situation.
It was 10pm and we had to get back to the refugio for curfew. We were all a little giddy because Iylted, Norah, and Remi, who sat at the table next to us, had gotten into the wine and were a bit looped. We were trying to be so quiet getting into bed but of course our giddiness got us into trouble with some of the other more serious pilgrims. When we finally got settled down and the giggles gone we could hear the snoring piping up in the next room and of course that made us all burst out laughing again.
Now we are taking a day off in Burgos. Many of the people we have spent the last week with are either heading home or taking the train closer to the end because they have time constraints. So tomorrow will be a new day with new people.
Until next time!
Jill